Colorado Springs Utilities tests emergency evacuation plan

The Colorado Springs Utilities Birdsaw Building off of North Nevada was surrounded by fire trucks and police cars this morning.

But don’t worry, it was only for a test of CSU’s new evacuation method.

Organizers simulated an explosion followed by a two-alarm fire.

Nearly 100 employees had to quickly make their way out of the building.

Then a dozen of them had to rush to another building to make sure utilities operations continued running.

Organizers said the drill is important to keep employees safe, but also is crucial to making sure they can keep utilities running.

“We’re able to test our resilience and make sure even during the most terrible emergencies, we’re still providing water, electricity and light,” Emergency Manager Steven Kuhr said.

“If we have a disruption in one of our buildings, we don’t want that to impact the community as a whole, so we want to be prepared and ready to provide that service no matter what happens,” Managing Engineer Sarah Labarre said.

Labarre had no idea the drill was going to happen until she heard the alarms. But she reacted quickly by following the new emergency plan laid out last month.

“I felt prepared because we were trained,” she said. “In the past, we’ve let our control operators stay at their desk until there was a verification of a threat. We’ve changed the model where everyone has to leave the facility so there’s not that waiting period, which is an extra risk.”

Organizers said employees performed well, with only two people unaccounted for in the beginning.

They will be performing another drill as well.